Nakata announced his retirement at age 29 on July 3, 2006 after a ten-year career that included seven seasons in the ItalianSerie A and a season in the English Premier League. In March 2004, Pelé named Nakata in his FIFA 100, a list of the top living footballers at the time. Nakata was the only Japanese, and one of only two Asian footballers (the other being Korean defender Hong Myung-Bo) to be named on the list.

Nakata began his professional career at age 18 in 1995, with J. League side Bellmare Hiratsuka (now Shonan Bellmare). After the 1998 World Cup in France, Nakata was signed by A.C. Perugia in Italy's Serie A for 4M US$,[3] becoming the second Japanese player ever to appear in the Italian top league after Kazu Miura had done it for Genoa four years earlier. In his first season in Italy, Nakata scored 10 goals, his single-season highest total.

In January 2000, after one and a half seasons at Perugia, Nakata moved to Roma for 42 Billion ITL (€21.691 million)[4] helping the team win the scudetto. The highlight of Nakata's career at Roma came on May 6, 2001 in the Serie A match against Juventus at Stadio Delle Alpi. After replacing Francesco Totti in the second half with Roma trailing 0–2, Nakata netted with a 30-yard screamer beyond Juventus goalkeeperEdwin van der Sar's reach, with 11 minutes left in the match. Nakata then helped Roma score the equalizer when his fierce drive from outside the box was parried by Van der Sar into the path of Vincenzo Montella, who scored for Roma in the last minute. The match ended with a 2–2 draw and Roma maintained a six-point margin atop the league table.[5]

In the summer of 2001, Nakata joined Parma[6] for 55 billion lire (€28.4 million)[7][8] where he played for two and a half seasons. He scored a crucial goal in the first leg of the Coppa Italia final against Juventus, which Parma eventually won.

In January 2004, Nakata joined Bologna where he played the remainder of the 2003–04 season before moving to Fiorentina, where he played the following season. In August 2005, Nakata moved to Premiership side Bolton Wanderers on loan. During his season at Bolton, which would be the last of his professional career, he scored once in the league, in a 2–0 win over West Bromwich Albion.[9]

At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Nakata played in all three matches for Japan, losing to Australia and Brazil, and drawing with Croatia. His performance against Croatia earned him a Man of the Match award.[12] After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, on July 3, 2006, Nakata announced his retirement from professional football and the Japanese national team on his personal website "I decided half a year ago that I would retire from the world of professional football ... after the World Cup in Germany." Nakata wrote, "I will never again stand on the pitch as a professional player. But I will never give up football."[13][14] In a 2014 interview in TMW Magazine, Nakata confirmed that he had retired at a such a young age because he was no longer enjoying football, and wanted instead to see what was going on in the world.[15]

Despite Nakata playing every match in Japan's first three World Cup appearances, he was not selected for the country's Asian Cup-winning squads in 2000 and 2004. In total, he was capped 77 times for Japan, scoring 11 goals, 9 of which came in official FIFA competitions.[1]

Outside of football Nakata has shown interest in fashion, attending runway shows, wearing designer clothing and sporting colorful haircuts. He dyed his hair blond for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, hoping to attract the attention of European scouts. Japanese hairstylist Aki Watanabe credits him as a trendsetter.[22] Andrea Tenerani, photographer for GQ in Italy said of Nakata, "He's perfect; he's like a model. And he's totally obsessed with fashion."[23]Calvin Klein designer Italo Zucchelli said, "(Nakata) plays with fashion like all of them now, but in a cooler, more sophisticated way than many others."[24] He is one of the models featuring the Calvin Klein underwear campaign 2010. He was featured in the July 2007 US version of GQ with a 12-page spread on fall fashion. He was featured in GQ in his home country in December 2011.[25]

Often regarded as a Japanese David Beckham,[26] because of his obsession with fashion and his status as a role model for many Asian Football exports to Europe,[citation needed] Nakata is an editor-at-large at Monocle[27] at the invitation of his friend Tyler Brûlé, who serves as the magazine's editor-in-chief.

In recent years, he has also been an active supporter of Special Olympics football and participated in the 2010 Special Olympics Unity Cup[29] in South Africa during the World Cup. Nakata was named a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics in 2014.[30]